It's got a new name this year -- its organizers have re-dubbed it "Patois" -- but when it cranks up Thursday (March 26) the 11-day New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival will have the same old mission: exploring social-justice issues at home and around the world.

"We decided it was time to have a stronger name for the festival," co-director Emily Ratner said. "The hope is that eventually 'Patois' will be enough to identify the festival."

The word, which is French in origin and refers to any nonstandard dialect such as Creole, was selected in part to highlight the distinct culture of the festival's New Orleans home, as organizers work to tie local issues to global issues.

Lest there be any confusion, the new name is followed in festival literature by a colon and its formal moniker: the sixth annual New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival.

Festival organizers also define Patois as "the language used at the intersection of art and social justice in New Orleans." Ratner explained: "We have just a lot of films about New Orleans, films celebrating social-justice victories around the world."

A scene from the Oscar-nominated documentary 'Nerakhoon.'

PATOIS: THE NEW ORLEANS INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

What: An 11-day festival featuring film screenings, performances and workshops on social-justice issues.

When: Thursday (March 26) through April 5.

Where: Various New Orleans locations.

Cost: Films and performances are $8; day pass $10; festival passes $50. Workshops and other events are free.

The festival's opening-night selection, the drama "American Violet," fits into both of those categories. An inspired-by-true-events civil-rights story of a Texas woman who stands up to a corrupt criminal-justice system after she gets caught in its net. It was shot in New Orleans in 2007 under the working title "American Inquisition."

The film is scheduled for a regular theatrical release next month.

Starring Alfre Woodard, Xzibit, Nicole Beharie and Charles Dutton, it screens Thursday (March 26) at 7 p.m. at Canal Place Cinema. It will be the first of nearly 50 films screened -- many from local filmmakers, and many on local issues -- and will be complemented by music, workshops and other events.

Other notable festival screenings and events include:

• "Liberation HipHop," a series of hip-hop performances with a global reach, featuring acts from New Orleans, Detroit, New York and Gaza. The event, which includes films and speakers, begins Friday (March 27) at 9:30 p.m. at Ray's Boom Boom Room, 508 Frenchmen St.

• >"Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)," an '09 Oscar nominee in the documentary feature category, about a Laotian family's decision to relocate to the United States. Screens April 3 at 9 p.m. at the Zeitgeist.

• "Dos Americas: The Reconstruction of New Orleans," a 47-minute doc on the Hispanic laborers who have come to help rebuild the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Screens April 5 at 4:30 p.m. at Zeitgeist.